ELIOT 
A  Complete  System  of  Education 


A 

COMPLETE 

SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION. 

A    LECTURE 

DELIVERED   BEFORE    THE 

AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  ATiTS  AND  SCIENCES, 

JANUAEY  19,  1853. 

BY   SAMUEL   A.    ELIOT. 

BOSTON: 

185  3. 

EASTBUEN'S    PRESS. 

I 

u^ 


COMPLETE 


SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION.^ 


A    LECTURE 


DELIVERED  BEFORE   THE 


AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES, 


JANUARY  19,  1853. 


BY  SAMUEL  A.   ELIOT. 
It 


BOSTON: 
1  853. 

EASTBUEN'S    PRESS. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.arGhive.org/details/completesystemofOOelioiala 


LECTURE. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen, 

In  the  lectures  of  the  course  which  is  now  drawing  to  a 
close  you  have  had  valuable  illustrations  of  the  effects  which 
may  follow  from  the  combination  of  education  with  original 
ability.  The  lectures  themselves  have  furnished  the  evidence 
of  the  beneficial  results  of  that  great  agency  which  I  have  se- 
lected as  my  subject ;  and  I  should  not  have  dared  to  have 
joined  the  series  of  eminent  persons  who  have  preceded  me, 
had  I  not  believed  that  there  are  some  important  truths  con- 
nected with  the  topic  of  education  not  generally  recognized, 
but  which  it  requires  neither  genius  to  discover,  nor  elo- 
quence to  develop ;  truths  the  effect  of  which  depends  upon 
their  intrinsic  importance,  and  not  on  the  rhetoric  by 
which  they  may  be  embellished.  It  may  be  said,  too,  that 
he  who  stands  on  the  outside  of  a  temple  can  see  its  propor- 
tions and  its  beauty,  which  he  who  has  already  entered  its 
penetralia  can  only  remember. 

We  have  had  illustrations  of  ancient  literature,  modern 
poetry,  art,  science,  and  their  connexions  and  contrasts,  and 
the  dependence  of  all  upon  the  intellect  which  is  the  com- 
mon property  and  agent  of  art,  science  and  poetry.  But  the 
practical  subject  of  the  means  by  which  the  intellect,  the 
mother  of  all  the  three,  may  be  cultivated,  and  enriched,  has 
been,  as  yet,  scarcely  touched  ;  and  it  will  be  my  object  to 
show  by  what  agency  this  may  be  best  effected,  and  to  point 
out  the  duty  of  society  in  relation  to  that  cultivation,  as  well 
as  some  of  the  advantages  which  may  be  derived  from  it. 

A  feeling  very  nearly  akin  to  indignant  surprise  might 
very  naturally  be  expected  to  arise  in  a  Massachusetts  audi- 
ence, and  more  especially  in  a  Boston  audience,  who  should 
be  addressed  upon  the  deficiencies  of  our  system  of  public 
education.     "  What !"  they  might  exclaim,  *'  was  not  Massa- 


chusetts  the  very  first  to  establish,  and  the  most  earnest  to 
maintain  a  plan  of  absolutely  universal  education  ?  Was  it 
not  made  compulsory  upon  every  town  to  sustain  its  schools  ? 
Have  we  not  provision,  too,  for  the  training  of  teachers, 
established  by  the  State  ?  Have  we  not  Academies  without 
end,  and  Colleges  more  numerous,  in  proportion  to  our  popu-^ 
lation,  than  any  other  State  ?  What  would  you  have  more  ?" 
If  my  audience  will  pardon  me  for  the  heresy,  I  would  have 
a  great  deal  more,  both  of  instruction  and  of  system  ;  and  the 
whole  should  be  so  extended  as  to  be  adapted  to  all  the  edu- 
cational wants  of  the  population.  There  should  be  not  only 
some  education  for  all,  but  every  needed  kind  of  education, 
from  which  all  may  make  theif  choice.  There  should  be 
not  only  provision  for  the  dissemination  of  mental  food,  but 
the  means  of  gathering  and  storing  the  harvest,  of  increasing 
the  growth  of  future  years,  and  of  varying  the  culture  with 
the  changing  tastes  and  wants  of  successive  generations. 

In  this  country  the  government  is  the  combined  power,  in- 
telligence, and  wealth  of  the  entire  people.  At  least  it  acts 
for,  represents  the  whole  people  for  purposes  which  cannot 
be  attained  so  well  by  individual  action  j  and  for  education 
among  the  chief  and  foremost.  With  regard  to  all  elemen- 
tary education  this  has  been  long  acknowledged.  Nobody 
has  doubted  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  State,  as  such,  to 
provide,  in  some  way  or  other,  for  that  portion  of  education 
in  which  all  must  participate  equally,  or  at  least  in  which  all 
desire  to  participate  equally ;  but  the  moment  there  is  any 
proposition  to  go  beyond  this,  it  is  met  by  the  argument  that 
such  education  is  not  equally  for  the  benefit  of  all,  but  for 
that  of  the  few.  It  is  special  legislation  for  particular  class- 
es ;  and  not  only  it  is  not  the  duty  of  government  to  provide 
for  such  education,  but  it  is  anti-republican  in  its  nature, 
and  therefore  government  ought  resolutely  to  refuse  to  do 
any  such  thing.  If  there  is  truth  and  justice  in  this  argu- 
ment, it  must  be  admitted  to  be  conclusive.  If  free  govern- 
ments cannot  foster  education  in  all  its  forms  and  degrees, 
let  us  look  for  other  means  ;  but  if  there  be  any  fallacy  here,  it 
is  important  to  discover  it  and  set  it  aside  ;  for  of  all  agencies 
in  promoting  improvement,  of  whatever  sort,  that  of  the  gov- 
ernment, wielding  substantially  the  entire  resources  of  the 
people,  is  the  most  efiective.  If  the  wealth  of  the  people 
cannot  properly  be  used  by  their  agents,  except  for  the  equal, 
direct,  benefit  of  all,  it  becomes  us  to  know  it ;  and  if  this 
doctrine  be  established  I  must  stop  here.     Let  us  inquire  a 


little  into  this  matter,  as  preliminary  to  any  full  discussion  of 
the  subject. 

I  do  not  know  that  it  is  characteristic  of  republics  in  gen- 
eral to  legislate  much,  to  be  always  regulating  every  thing, 
and  to  change  the  regulations  of  one  year  by  those  of  the 
next ;  but,  most  unquestionably,  it  is  a  marked  distinction  of 
American  legislatures  to  be  very  busy  in  doing  and  undoing  ; 
and  it  will  be  a  most  surprising  and  unlooked  for  result  if  all 
this  legislation,  backward  and  forward,  enacting  and  repeal- 
ing, considering  and  reconsidering,  making  experiments  of 
every  imaginable  variety,  should  turn  out  invariably,  or  even 
generally,  to  be  directly  for  the  equal  benefit  of  all  classes. 
So  far  is  this  from  the  truth,  that  there  is  scarcely  a  law,  how- 
ever general  in  its  terms,  excepting  perhaps  those  for  the 
protection  of  the  person,  in  which  all  have,  or  can  have,  an 
equal  interest.  Laws  for  the  protection  of  property  affect 
differently  those  who  have  different  amounts  of  property  to 
be  protected ;  and  those  for  the  protection  of  particular  kinds 
of  property  affect  only,  or  at  least  principally,  those  who  pos- 
sess it.  What  direct  interest  have  you,  or  I,  in  the  law 
which  protects  the  alewive  fishery  in  Agawam  river  ?  Or 
what  has  the  farmer,  or  the  sailor,  to  do  with  the  especial 
protection  of  shops  from  larceny  ?  There  was  a  law  passed 
last  winter  in  our  legislature,  in  the  most  general  terms  pos- 
sible ;  very  remarkable  for  its  comprehensiveness,  as  well  as 
its  brevity,  but  which  scarcely  affects  one  person  in  a  hun- 
dred thousand  at  all,  directly  or  indirectly  ;  and  yet  it  was  a 
very  proper,  and  reasonable  law,  one  which  ought  to  pass,  and 
which  will  never  be  counted  among  the  misdeeds  of  the  legis- 
lature. It  consisted  of  the  following  nine  words,  "  Aliens 
may  take,  hold,  convey  and  transmit  real  estate."  Nothing 
can  be  more  general  in  its  form,  yet  it  is  for  the  direct  bene- 
fit of  but  a  small  class  of  inhabitants  in  this  State,  and  they 
not  citizens ;  nothing  can  be  more  equitable,  and  yet  scarcely 
one  in  ten  thousand  citizens  will  ever  derive  any  benefit  from 
it,  or  perhaps,  even,  ever  hear  of  it. 

Such  laws,  viz.,  those  which  are  sometimes  invidiously 
designated  as  special  legislation,  are  necessarily  passed,  every 
year,  by  every  legislature  in  America,  by  common  consent ; 
and  if  all  such  were  erased  from  the  statute  book  we  should 
find  we  had  taken  a  long  step  backward  in  the  path  of  civili- 
zation. The  true  limitation  in  this  particular  is,  not  that  a  law 
should  benefit  all  equally,  for  that,  as  a  general  rule,  is  im- 
possible, but  that  it  should  do  no  wrong  to  any,  that  it  should 
injure  no  one  without  compensation.    It  should  benefit  some- 


body,  but  to  require  it  to  benefit  every  body  alike,  is  to  re- 
quire an  impossibility. 

Laws  for  the  promotion  of  education  will  undoubtedly,  if 
wisely  made,  be  of  great,  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  whole 
community,  through  their  direct  action,  and  of  still  greater 
advantage  through  that  which  is  indirect ;  and  I  now  propose 
to  suggest  what  it  seems  to  me,  would  be  a  true  and  com- 
plete system  of  education  for  the  benefit,  and  by  the  means 
and  resources  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  to  urge  some  argu- 
ments to  show  the  importance  of  the  object,  and  the  duty 
which  devolves  on  the  government  of  the  Commonwealth  to 
carry  into  execution  such  scheme  of  general  education  as 
shall  appear  to  it  most  comprehensive  and  useful. 

The  present  educational  plans  of  Massachusetts  embrace 
nothing  more  than  the  Common  school  for  children,  and  the 
Normal  school  for  the  teachers.  Nothing  is  taught,  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Commonwealth,  but  the  absolute  neces- 
sities of  intellectual  life  ;  those  elements  which  may  ena- 
ble the  child  of  a  poor  man,  if  endowed  with  an  ardent 
genius,  to  educate  himself  imperfectly  in  after  life,  or  the  son 
of  a  rich  man  to  move  on  more  rapidly,  under  the  guidance 
of  such  instructors  as  may  be  procured  for  him  by  a  liberal 
expenditure. 

The  acquisition  of  knowledge,  the  discipline  of  the  mind 
which  is  the  best  result  of  the  best  education,  is  not  a  task 
so  soon  or  so  easily  finished.  The  road  is  steep,  difiicult, 
abounding  with  obstacles,  interminable.  And  shall  the  State, 
the  common  mother,  content  herself  with  standing  at  its 
very  entrance,  just  holding  the  gate  open,  and  saying  "  En- 
ter, my  children,  this  is  the  road  to  eminence ; — climb  up 
these  first  hills,  and  you  will  have  a  splendid  view  of  moun- 
tains upon  mountains  beyond,  which  you  may  ascend  if  you 
like,  and  which  you  must  climb  if  you  mean  to  reach  a  really 
lofty  position?" 

It  was  a  great  thing,  two  centuries  ago,  that  New  England 
should  have  done  so  much  more,  in  the  days  of  her  poverty, 
and  anxiety,  and  weakness,  than  the  rest  of  the  world,  to 
promote  the  general  education  by  public  authority  ,•  but  it  is 
nothing  to  boast  of  that  she  should  have  made  no  progress 
since,  in  the  same  way,  and  that  the  Common  School  has 
become  now  the  sole  object  of  her  care.  In  Massachusetts 
provision  was  made,  more  than  two  centuries  ago,  for  a  more 
extended  course  of  education,  to  be  sustained  by  all  the  re- 
sources of  the  colony,  and  if  we  had  retained  the  noble  am- 
bition of  our  fathers  and  founders,  such  a  purpose  would 
never  have  slipped  out  of  view,  or  have  become  unpopulai'. 


A  College  was  talked  of,  and  an  appropriation  was  made  for 
it,  by  the  Colonial  authority,  within  a  year  after  grammar 
schools  were  established  ; — and  our  ancestors  were  right  in 
thinking  the  one  altogether  inadequate,  as  the  means  of  pub- 
lic instruction,  without  the  other.  The  Common  School  is 
the  cradle,  and  the  intellectual  food  furnished  there  is  fit  for 
the  infant  occupant ;  but  to  claim  that  the  State  has  done  its 
whole  duty  in  providing  those  only  for  its  children,  is  estab- 
lishing a  very  limited  sphere  of  duty  indeed.  It  would  be 
as  wise  to  contend  that  the  parent  was  absolved  from  all  re- 
sponsibility for  the  child,  as  soon  as  it  was  able  to  stand 
alone,  and  that  thenceforward  the  poor  thing  should  provide 
for  itself.  No.  If  it  be  the  duty  of  the  parent  to  provide  at  all 
for  his  child,  it  is  his  duty  to  do  so  till  the  child  is  able  to 
provide  for  himself;  and  if  it  be  the  duty  of  the  State,  or  if  it 
be  wise  for  it  to  provide  any  education  for  the  community,  it 
is  its  duty,  and  it  is  wise  for  it  to  furnish  as  much  as  is  needed 
for  the  preparation  of  that  community  for  all  the  duties  and 
occupations  of  life.  The  true  limit  is  the  benefit  to  be  de- 
rived to  tlie  whole  of  society  by  providing  means  of  improve- 
ment which  cannot  be  so  well  obtained  otherwise.  The  re- 
sources of  the  State  are  so  much  more  vast  than  those  of 
individuals,  that  what  is  impossible  for  the  latter  would 
scarce  produce  a  perceptible  financial  effect  on  the  former. 

It  has  long  been  the  practice  here,  and  a  very  wise  one 
too,  to  leave  individuals  to  provide  for  themselves,  without 
aid  from  the  State,  so  long  as  they  can  do  it ;  but  it  has  also 
been  the  practice  for  the  State  to  patronize  the  projects  of 
individuals,  and  give  them  countenance  and  material  aid 
when  it  is  needed,  and  when  those  projects  tend  to  promote 
the  general  welfare.  One  branch  of  this  policy  has  been  as 
wise  as  the  other,  and  our  most  valuable  physical  improve- 
ments have  been  effected  in  this  way.  Sometimes  a  charter, 
with  temporary  privileges,  has  been  granted,  like  the  patents 
of  the  general  government ;  and  sometimes  the  State  itself 
has  become  copartner  in  its  own  corporations,  and  has  reaped, 
directly  and  indirectly  too,  a  rich  harvest  of  gain  on  the 
speculation.  In  the  great  business  of  education  the  "  let 
alone  "  policy  has  been,  in  my  judgment,  pursued  to  far  too 
great  an  extent. 

Since  the  establishment  of  our  present  constitution,  in 
1780,  very  little  has  been  done  by  the  Commonwealth  in  aid 
of  any  establishment  for  education,  excepting  the  Common 
Schools.  The  Colleges  owe  very  nearly  all  the  resources  pro- 
vided  since    1780,   to   individual   contributions,   while   the 


8 

academies  and  professional  schools  derive  from  the  same 
source  every  dollar  they  possess.  The  consequence  is  that 
there  is,  in  every  institution  of  the  sort,  a  great  display  of  in- 
dividual preferences  for  this  or  that  branch  of  education — 
professorships  established,  not  as  a  part  of  a  general  plan,  but 
merely  because  some  well-disposed  gentleman  thought  it 
desirable  ;  collections  containing,  not  the  books,  the  instru- 
ments, the  specimens  which  were  exactly  needed  in  the  Col- 
lege course,  but  such  as  happened  to  be  in  the  possession  of 
the  donors  ;  and  when  all  is  brought  together  there  is  seen 
many  a  yawning  gap,  many  a  ^^  hiatus  valde  dejlendus" 
which,  to  the  eye  of  the  well-informed  observer,  really  con- 
stitutes the  most  striking  peculiarity  of  our  academic  institu- 
tions. Nothing  is  complete,  nothing  systematic  ;  and  it 
requires  the  greatest  ingenuity  and  effort  on  the  part  of  those 
who  have  the  management  of  these  institutions,  to  draw 
together  the  various  fragments  of  the  miscellaneous  dona- 
tions, in  order  to  make  even  a  decent  show  of  preparation  for 
the  true  purpose  of  a  College  ;  and  frequent  and  wearisome 
appeals  to  the  generosity  of  individuals,  to  supply  the  want 
which  happens  to  press  most  severely  at  the  moment,  though 
it  may,  in  fact,  be  no  more  important  than  any  of  the  others, 
and  though  the  temporary  supply  which  may  be  obtained 
will  not  prevent  the  recurrence  of  the  same  necessity  within 
a  brief  period. 

Let  me  not  be  understood  as  uttering  a  syllable  of  re- 
proach against  the  noble  benefactors  of  our  Colleges.  It 
is  not  their  fault  that  the  institutions  are  imperfectly  ar- 
ranged, and  imperfectly  supplied  with  the  means  of  instruc- 
tion. It  is  their  great  glory  that  our  Colleges  have  accom- 
plished so  much,  that  so  valuable  an  education  can  be  ob- 
tained in  them  as  is  actually  given ;  and  the  gratitude  of 
all  future  generations  of  Americans  will  be  forever  due  to 
those  generous  men  who  have  labored  so  successfully  to  pre- 
vent the  decline  and  fall  of  the  republic  of  letters  among  us. 
It  was  not  their  privilege,  nor  their  duty,  to  found  complete 
and  well-organized  Colleges.  They  had  no  power  and  no 
opportunity  to  do  so  ;  and  of  all  men  it  would  least  become 
me  to  say  a  word  in  disparagement  of  those  whom  the  rich- 
est and  noblest  of  the  world  might  well  emulate,  and  whom 
all  must  honor.  But  my  experience,  both  as  a  pupil  and  an 
officer  of  a  College,  has  led  me  to  see  and  to  deplore  the  ex- 
istence of  imperfections  so  great  and  manifold  as  to  be  quite 
beyond  the  probable  reach  of  the  means  which  have  been 
heretofore  applied  to  remove  them,  but  which  yet  may  be 
easily  and  effectually  remedied,  if  the  public  mind  can  be 


brought  to  take  what  seems  to  me  the  right  view  of  the 
case. 

The  great  question  is,  what  is  the  duty  of  the  State  in  re- 
gard to  this  matter.  There  exists  no  doubt,  in  the  mind  of 
any  one,  as  to  what  the  State  Government  ought  to  do  in 
relation  to  all  other  interests.  It  ought  to  develop  all  its  re- 
sources, and  increase  its  attractions;  to  do  all  in  its  power  to 
induce  the  active  and  intelligent  to  seek  it  for  their  residence, 
and  to  promote  in  every  way  the  comfort,  health,  security  and 
happinessj  of  its  population.  These  are  its  unquestioned  du- 
ties, and  these  are  the  professed  objects  of  the  laws,  and  of  the 
administration  of  them.  Now  in  what  way  can  those  pur- 
poses be  eiFected  so  thoroughly  and  advantageously  as  by 
increasing  knowledge,  and  the  means  of  education  ?  Look 
at  the  effect  of  the  small  amount  of  education  which  has 
thus  far  been  given,  by  public  authority  and  by  private  con^ 
tribution,  in  New  England.  What  else  has  given  us  the  not 
undeserved  reputation  for  ingenuity  and  sagacity  which  dis- 
tinguishes us  among  the  States  of  this  Union  ?  Is  there  any 
doubt  that  it  is  education  which  has  contributed  largely  to 
that  development  of  mind  which  we  may  justly  claim  to  be  at 
least  one  of  our  characteristics  ?  And  is  there  not  a  difference 
discernible  in  the  progress  even  of  the  several  New  England 
States,  in  favor  of  those  where  the  education  has  been  the 
best, and  the  most  extended?  I  think  it  may  be  doubted  if, 
without  its  aid,  so  large  a  population  as  now  enjoys  the  insti- 
tutions of  Massachusetts  could  exist  upon  its  soil.  Certainly 
they  could  not  have  found  the  material  or  the  intellectual 
enjoyments  they  possess,  without  the  cultivation  of  their 
minds.  If  such  are  the  results  of  a  meagre  and  insufficient, 
unsystematic  and  incomplete  education,  what  beneficent  con- 
sequences might  not  be  expected  to  flow  from  a  full,  free, 
fertilizing  stream  of  knowledge,  which,  like  the  overflow  of 
the  Nile,  should  reach  every  sequestered,  thirsty  spot  in  the 
whole  land ! 

We  have,  ourselves,  set  the  noble  example  to  the  world,  of 
the  universal  diffusion  of  some  knowledge  among  all  classes. 
It  has  been  followed  by  other  States;  and  we  are  no  longer 
the  only  nation  whose  whole  population  is  taught  something. 
Nay,  there  are  many  countries  which  we  are  accustomed  to 
regard  as  very  benighted,  where  much  more  is  taught,  and 
well  taught  too,  than  in  our  schools.  But  if  they  have  sur- 
passed us  in  our  own  department,  if  those  old  despotic  gov- 
ernments have  learnt  that  knowledge  is  power,  in  nations  as 
well  as  individuals,  it  is  time  we  gave  them  something  else 

2 


10 

to  imitate  ;  it  is  time  that  we  looked  after  our  own  sources  of 
power  in  comparison  with  theirs  ;  and,  that  we  should  not 
suffer  ourselves  to  be  outstripped  by  them  in  the  career  of 
improvement.  We  must  follow  our  own  example,  or  rather 
the  example  of  our  forefathers ;  and  perfect,  in  proportion  to 
our  means  and  opportunities,  what  they  began  in  spite  of 
want,  embarrassment,  and  adversity.  How  shall  we  do  this  ? 
In  answer  to  this  question  I  say,  that  we  must  provide  suffi- 
cient means  for  educating  the  entire  people  in  every  variety 
of  way  in  which  they  desire  to  be  educated,  in  conformity 
with  the  wants  of  the  age,  and  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
which  they  are  placed.  The  time  has  gone  by  when  reading 
and  writing  were  considered  accomplishments,  and  great 
mysteries,  or  in  Indian  language,  great  "medicines."  They 
are  necessities  to  every  body ;  and  in  the  progress  of  events, 
much  more  is  wanted  by  thousands  among  us,  who  can  by 
no  means  obtain  that  which  they  seek.  In  every  profession 
and  every  department  of  human  employment,  new  knowledge 
has  been  gained,  of  which  every  new  laborer  in  each  depart- 
ment must  be  possessed,  or  he  can  make  no  advance.  And 
not  merely  so,  if  i">e  is  not  possessed  of  the  most  recent  dis- 
coveries he  falls  behind  his  class,  and  is  deprived  of  the  satis- 
factions, of  various  kinds,  which  he  sees  some  of  his  com- 
panions enjoying.  The  government  of  the  Commonwealth 
is  bound  to  see  this  state  of  things ;  and  seeing  it,  is  bound 
to  strive  to  meet  the  circumstances  of  the  times.  It  has  the 
resources,  and  no  one  else  has  what  is  requisite.  It  has  the 
power  of  adapting  itself  to  the  wants  of  all,  and  supplying 
the  wants  of  all.  Let  it  see  to  it,  then,  that  the  duty  which 
has  fallen  upon  it  be  discharged,  that  the  means  of  progress 
and  improvement  in  its  hands  be  not  wasted,  nor  suffered  to 
lie  unemployed.  The  intellect  of  its  people  is  the  richest 
field  it  can  till,  the  richest  mine  it  can  explore.  Let  it  no 
longer  be  satisfied  with  furnishing  the  most  elementary  of  all 
elementary  education  ;  but  let  it  believe  that  its  children  can 
profitably  use  something  more  than  the  alphabet  and  the 
numeration  table. 

It  is  enough  to  make  the  most  sanguine  person  despond  of 
the  progress  of  education  among  us,  to  consider  the  immense 
wants  of  our  Colleges,  the  irregularity  and  want  of  system  in 
the  means  which  are  furnished  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
young,  and  the  small  portion  of  the  community  to  whom  any 
appeal  can  be  made  to  relieve  their  constantly  pressing  wants. 
In  looking  over  the  donations  which  have  been  made  by  sub- 
scription for  a  vast  variety  of  purposes,  including  education, 


11 

within  the  period  of  this  generation,  one  finds  the  same 
names  of  a  limited  number  of  persons  recurring  on  almost 
every  paper,  so  that  one  is  painfully  impressed  with  the  in- 
equality with  which  the  burdens  incident  to  the  promotion 
of  the  public  good  are  borne.  The  only  way  to  remedy  this 
injustice  is,  to  provide  by  law  for  the  mainienance  of  all  those 
establishments  which  the  public  good  really  requires. 

It  seems  to  be  commonly  imagined  that  a  College  educa- 
tion is  something  very  magnificent,  and  much  beyond  the 
wants  of  the  people  ;  and  they  have  been  unwisely  taught  to 
be  very  jealous  of  it,  as  of  something  very  aristocratic  in  its 
tendency,  and  deserving  of  any  thing  rather  than  encourage- 
ment. But  what  is  it,  after  all?  I  desire  to  speak  with  the 
most  entire  respect  of  the  education  given  in  our  Colleges, 
and  of  those  who  give  it.  It  is  indispensable,  both  as  a  dis- 
cipline of  the  mind,  and  as  the  means  of  furnishing  a  certain 
amount  of  positive  and  necessary  knowledge.  But  still  it  is 
only  preparatory  to  something  else.  It  is  a  stepping  stone, 
and  not  a  resting  point.  Pray  do  not  let  us  imagine  that  a 
young  man  who  has  merely  gone  through  College,  must 
therefore  know  a  great  deal.  I  can  affirm,  both  from  experi- 
ence and  observation,  that  his  knowledge  amounts  to  but 
very  little.  But  that  little  some  of  us  must  have,  or  we  can 
have  no  learned  professions  among  us ;  and  I  cannot  believe 
it  would  be  profitable  for  a  State  to  have  no  well  instructed 
clergy,  physicians,  or  jurists.  Of  course  the  entire  population 
does  not  require  a  College  education;  but  the  State  requires 
some  men  educated  in  that  particular  manner,  a  certain  pro- 
portion which  will  necessarily  be  an  increasing  number  with 
the  growth  of  the  State  ;  and  for  its  own  sake,  as  a  matter 
of  public  advantage,  and  the  general  welfare,  it  ought  to  pro- 
vide the  means  of  giving  such  education  to  all  who  need  it. 
It  would  be  easy  to  prevent  those  to  whom  it  was  not  suit- 
able from  wasting  their  time  in  trying  to  obtain  it,  by  keep- 
ing the  standard  of  attainment  so  high,  that  none  but  those 
who  could  profit  by  it  should  remain  in  such  institutions.  If 
the  door  were  thus  opened  to  all  who  wished  to  enter,  the 
number  would  be  somewhat  larger,  no  doubt,  than  hereto- 
fore ;  but  all  those  whom  it  is  desirable  to  remove  would 
leave  their  places  for  more  promising  pupils,  and  thus  the 
actual  addition  would  not  probably  be  excessive. 

By  providing  for  Collegiate  education  throughout  the  State, 
I  mean  that  the  government  should  furnish  not  merely  the 
supervision  of  Colleges,  which  it  has  heretofore  so  carefully 
preserved,  but  that  it  should  actually  provide  all  necessary 


12 

means  and  appliances,  such  as  buildings,  books,  instruments, 
salaries,  scholarships,  collections,  and  all  the  thousand  etcetera 
of  College  studies,  so  that  it  might  really  have  something  of 
its  own  to  look  after,  instead  of  seizing  upon  what  has  been 
established  by  private  bounty,  and  calling  it  a  State  institu- 
tion, merely  because  it  is  designed,  or  adapted,  to  benefit  the 
whole  Commonwealth. 

Doubtless  politicians  of  all  parties,  as  at  present  advised, 
will  look  with  great  contempt  and  indignation  at  a  proposi- 
tion involving  such  a  vast  expense  as  the  proper  endowment 
of  the  three  existing  Colleges  in  Massachusetts  ;  and  so  they 
would  have  done  at  the  act — not  a  mere  proposition — but  the 
positive  action  of  their  fathers,  if  they  had  been  alive  in 
1636.  "  WhaC !  "  they  would  have  said,  "  appropriate  £400 
sterling  for  a  College,  when  we  have  but  little  more  than  that 
amount  of  money  in  the  whole  colony !  A  College,  too,  in 
the  woods,  where  there  is  nobody  but  Indians,  and  when 
there  are  not  fifty  white  boys  to  be  found  within  fifty  miles. 
The  thing  is  preposterous.  We  want  all  our  means  and 
hands  to  meet  our  physical  wants,  and  it  will  be  time  enough 
to  talk  about  book-learning  when  we  have  established  our- 
selves with  a  little  more  strength  and  security."  Not  so 
thought,  not  so  acted  our  fathers.  And  now  that  we  can 
look  upon  the  results  of  their  policy,  even  as  it  regards  phy- 
sical prosperity,  we  can  see  that  they  could  have  done  nothing 
wiser,  or  more  kind  to  their  posterity,  than  the  founding  of 
schools  and  Colleges,  cultivating  the  mental  powers,  and  giv- 
ing to  their  children  that  activity  and  energy  which  have 
converted  the  wilderness  into  a  garden,  and  the  land  of 
granite  and  ice  into  the  abode  of  freedom,  comfort,  and 
abundance.  Their  fine  example  was  followed  in  the  other 
New  England  Colonies,  and  more  or  less  in  the  remainder ; 
and  it  is  in  large  part,  if  not  entirely,  to  the  intellectual  and 
moral  progress  imparted  by  schools an<Z  Colleges,\hdX  we  owe 
our  advance  in  outward  prosperity,  our  reputation,  and  even 
our  independence  as  a  nation  ;  for  it  is  not  likely  that  an  un- 
educated people  could  have  begun,  much  less  could  have  suc- 
cessfully concluded,  the  war  of  our  revolution.  If  we  owe  all 
this  to  the  wisdom  of  our  fathers,  are  we  not  bound  to  imi- 
tate them  ?  The  time  has  now  come,  surely,  when  we  have 
strength,  security,  and  means  enough  to  do  as  we  choose, 
without  pinching  ourselves,  or  scarcely  feeling  the  pressure  of 
the  necessary  taxation.  The  people  who  have  $200,000,000 
and  more  of  annual  revenue,  ought  to  have  something  to 
spare  for  the  education  of  their  children,  even  if  it  were  with 


13 

no  other  object  than  to  increase  their  income.  There  is  no 
way  in  which  even  this  humble  object  can  be  secured  so 
effectually  as  by  appropriate  and  well  directed  education. 
But  there  is  no  need  of  appealing  to  any  such  inferior  mo- 
tives. The  results  of  extended  education  are  too  well  under- 
stood and  appreciated  to  be  looked  at  with  indifference  by  the 
people,  if  their  attention  can  be  drawn  to  the  facts  of  the  case, 
and  the  duties  which  have  fallen  upon  them.  No  man  ob- 
jects now  to  taxation  for  the  support  or  improvement  of 
Common  Schools.  No  man  will  object,  when  the  subject  is 
equally  well  understood,  to  taxation  for  the  support  and  im- 
provement of  Colleges,  or  any  institution  for  necessary  instruc- 
tion. 

It  is  not  Colleges  alone  in  which  the  State,  as  a  State,  has 
an  interest.  The  school  and  the  College  both  are  only  pre- 
paratory, as  I  have  said,  to  something  else.  A  people,  a 
community,  cannot  prosper  certainly,  in  these  days,  without 
the  learned  professions  ;  nor  can  it  prosper  without  mechani- 
cal skill,  without  proficiency  in  the  arts  of  agriculture  and 
navigation,  nor  without  the  knowledge  of  those  principles  of 
industry,  and  international  commerce,  on  the  due  apportion- 
ment of  which  national  and  individual  progress  and  success 
so  greatly  depend.  All  these  things,  therefore,  and  whatso- 
ever is  subsidiary  to  the  attainment  of  valuable  knowledge  in 
each  of  them,  should  be  under  the  charge  and  patronage  of 
the  government.  The  State  should  supply  the  schools  and 
the  teachers,  the  implements,  and  the  means  of  every  de- 
scription which  are  necessary  to  the  prosecution  of  studies  in 
all  these  departments  of  human  knowledge. 

If  it  be  asked  why  it  should  be  regarded  as  the  duty  of  the 
government  to  provide  for  all  this,  when  experience  proves 
that  individuals  v/ill  do  it,  if  not  interfered  with,  the  answer  is, 
that  experience  proves  that  individuals  will  do  no  such  thing ; 
that  they  do  not,  and  cannot,  establish  schools,  upon  a  gene- 
ral and  harmonious  plan  ;  but  that  they  usually  do  such  things 
for  particular  purposes,  either  for  private  ends  of  personal  ad- 
vantage, or  to  gratify  their  particular  taste  in  the  cultivation  of 
this  or  that  branch  of  learning  ;  and  further,  that  even  such 
schools  as  are  established  by  single  or  by  associated  individ- 
uals, are  generally  lamentably  deficient  in  resources  as  well 
as  in  system.  If  a  machine  shop  is  established  by  an  indi- 
vidual, it  is  for  the  manufacture  of  a  certain  class  of  machin- 
ery only,  and  for  his  especial  profit.  If  a  school  is  founded, 
it  is  limited  alike  in  its  object  and  its  means.  If  it  is  for  a 
purpose  which  the  public  demands,  it  is  altogether  inadequate 


14 

to  supply  the  want ;  and  at  all  events,  it  is  certain  that  no 
individual,  and  scarcely  associated  wealth,  can  supply  the 
means  necessary  for  the  proper  instruction  of  the  whole  youth 
of  the  Commonwealth  in  any  one,  much  less  in  all  of  the  de- 
partments in  which  instruction  is  needed.  These  things 
must  be  done  by  the  government,  for  the  same  reason  that  the 
national  defence  is  conducted  by  it.  All  people  have  an  in- 
stinct for  self-defence,  as  well  as  for  self-cultivation,  and  it 
might  be  as  safely  argued  that  they  should  be  left  to  defend 
themselves  from  foreign  aggression  as  to  protect  themselves 
from  ignorance.  In  both  cases  the  outlay  is  necessarily  too 
great  for  individual  resources,  and  in  both,  the  want  of  system 
destroys  a  great  part  of  the  value  of  whatever  is  appro- 
priated ;  so  that  ultimately  the  general  plan  which  may  be, 
and  should  be,  pursued  by  government,  is  by  far  the  most 
economical,  as  well  as  the  most  effective. 

Harvard  College  is  the  largest  institution  for  education  in 
the  State,  and  has  been,  through  its  whole  history,  principally 
dependent  upon  private  bounty  and  the  taxation  of  the 
students,  for  its  means  of  existence  ;  and  when  we  recollect 
the  mode  in  which  it  has  grown  to  its  present  size,  the  patch 
work  additions  by  which  instruction  has  been  furnished  in 
various  departments,  not  according  to  any  plan,  not  always 
according  to  the  visible  and  acknowledged  wants  of  the 
public,  but  to  the  fancies  of  individuals,  Avhen  we  see  the 
very  great  deficiencies  in  all  sorts  of  apparatus  for  the  pur- 
poses professed,  we  cannot  fail  to  be  surprised  that  the  edu- 
cation obtained  there  is  so  respectable  as  it  is,  and  must 
attribute  to  the  ingenuity  and  devotedness  of  its  officers  that 
which  certainly  is  not  due  to  the  wisdom  or  liberality  of  the 
Commonwealth.  Harvard  College  is  not  materially  different, 
in  plan  of  organization  or  instruction,  from  the  other  Colleges 
in  the  State.  It  may  give  a  little  more  instruction,  and  be  a 
little  better  provided  than  they  are  with  some  of  the  neces- 
sary subsidiary  appliances  for  education  ;  but  what  is  true  of 
one  is  true  of  all ;  that  there  are  great  deficiencies  yet  to  be 
supplied,  great  expenses  to  be  diminished,  and  necessary  re- 
sources to  be  furnished.  The  complaints  are  universal  of  the 
cost  and  the  imperfection  of  our  collegiate  education,  and  the 
question  is,  what  is  the  remedy.  It  would  seem  from  the 
general  direction  of  complaint,  that  the  public  opinion  must 
be  that  the  Colleges  themselves,  or  rather  their  officers  and 
managers,  are  the  blameworthy  parties.  But  when  the  gene- 
ral allegation  is  sifted,  even  by  excited  partisans,  by  those 
who  have  been  loudest  in  their  complaints,  it  is  found  that 


15 

no  money  has  been  lost  or  misused,  and  that  no  body  of  men 
are  more  laborious  and  faithful  than  the  instructors.  It  has 
been  shown,  over  and  over  again,  by  the  severest  scrutiny, 
that  the  fault  is  not  in  that  quarter ;  and  it  unavoidably 
follows  that  there  is  a  call  by  the  public  for  a  quality  and 
extent  of  education  for  which  it  has  not  as  yet  furnished  the 
means  ;  and  if  that  public  intends  to  have  such  facilities  of 
instruction,  it  must  pay  what  they  will  cost. 

There  are  some  points  in  which  the  expenses  of  instruction 
may  be  expected  to  diminish  with  the  progress  of  time. 
Thus  books,  and  perhaps  instruments,  may  become  cheaper ; 
but  there  are  others,  and  those  very  essential,  in  which  it  is 
almost  certain  that  they  will  not  be  reduced.  With  the  pro- 
gress of  wealth  in  the  community  the  cost  of  living,  to 
instructors  as  well  as  pupils,  is  not  likely  to  fall  ;  and  the 
value  of  suitable  teachers,  as  indicated  by  their  salaries,  is 
quite  sure  to  rise.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  an  eminent 
scholar,  and  a  competent  instructor,  should  be  paid  no  more 
than  a  mechanic  can  earn  ;  or  a  president  of  a  College  be 
considered  as  compensated,  for  a  less  sum  than  the  superin- 
tendent of  a  machine  shop,  or  a  cotton  factory ;  and  it  is  a 
thing  to  be  noted  by  the  public,  and  by  those  who  represent 
the  public  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  that  if  the  course  of 
events  and  of  sympathies  continue  much  longer  in  its  present 
direction,  if  industrial  pursuits  are  to  supersede,  in  the  respect 
of  men,  those  of  a  more  intellectual  character,  to  the  extent 
that  seems  quite  probable,  if  no  proportionate  regard  is 
shown  for  those  attainments  which  do  not  lead  directly  to 
the  creation  or  accumulation  of  material  wealth,  the  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  men  of  intellect  will  desert  a  sphere  of 
action  in  which  they  do  not  find  adequate  support  or  honor  ; 
the  standard  of  character  and  attainments  in  professors  and 
instructors  will  be  lowered,  and  the  quality  of  the  instruction 
given  be  consequently  degraded  below  its  present  high  and 
improving  tone  ;  and  the  effect  of  all  this  will  be  made  mani- 
fest, not  only  in  the  Colleges,  but  every  where  throughout  the 
State,  in  every  county  Lyceum,  and  every  parish  church,  and 
ultimately  in  every  school  house  and  workshop. 

The  interests  of  civilized  life  are  so  intermingled  and 
woven  together,  that  no  one  of  them  can  be  neglected  with- 
out injury  to  all  the  rest ;  and  it  is  for  this  reason,  among 
others,  that  it  is  so  important  for  the  State  to  have  the  effec- 
tive control  of  every  department,  and  to  furnish  the  means  of 
supplying-,  in  due  proportion,  the  educational  wants  of  every 
class  of  the  community.     To  this  end  it  should  maintain  its 


16 

Colleges  in  thorough  and  complete  efficiency,  as  an  indispen- 
sable means  for  the  subsequent  professional  education.  It 
should  establish  professional  schools,  too,  in  each  department 
but  Theology;  and  in  that  it  might  advantageously  lend  its 
aid  to  every  denomination  in  the  Commonwealth  that  desired 
an  institution  for  education,  in  proportion  to  its  numbers. 
There  should  then  be  established  and  maintained  as  many 
Farm  Schools  as  would  be  necessary  to  give  some  appropriate 
instruction  to  the  children  of  all  the  farmers  in  the  State  ;  as 
many  machine  shops  as  would  suffice  to  instruct  all  her  me- 
chanics and  machinists  in  the  theoretic  principles  of  their 
art ;  as  many  scientific  schools  as  would  train  up  an  adequate 
number  of  engineers,  chemists,  architects,  naturalists,  geolo- 
gists, and  astronomers  ;  as  many  schools  of  navigation  as 
would  be  competent  to  prepare  the  future  shipmasters  and 
skippers  that  shall  ever  hereafter  be  born,  from  Newburyport 
all  along  shore  to  Provincetown,  in  the  mysteries  of  their 
noble  and  indispensable  occupation.  I  mean  that  the  State 
should  furnish  all  the  pecuniary  resources  necessary  to  sustain 
all  these  institutions,  and  not  leave  any  one  of  them  to  the 
individual  benevolence,  or  public  spirit,  that  may  chance  to  be 
excited  here  or  there.  Still  less  should  it  leave  their  man- 
agement to  the  skill  and  knowledge  of  individuals.  The 
entire  combination  should  be  systematized  by  the  wisest 
heads,  and  organized  and  conducted  by  the  most  adroit  and 
competent  administrators  ;  the  necessary  apparatus  should,  in 
each  case,  be  furnished  at  the  public  expense,  and  such  means 
supplied  as  would  aid  in  the  support  of  those  pupils  too  indi- 
gent to  support  themselves. 

And  now  I  imagine  the  prudent  members  of  our  House  of 
Representatives  looking  aghast  at  the  horrid  phantom  of  the 
accumulated  and  aggravated  expenses  I  have  raised.  But  let 
them  not  be  alarmed  in  vain.  The  expense  would  not,  for 
many  years,  exceed  what  might  very  well  and  profitably  be 
saved  out  of  their  own  excessive  numbers  and  prolonged 
sessions.  We  have  the  authority  of  His  Excellency  the  Gov- 
ernor for  the  statement  that  the  expenses  of  legislation  in 
1851  and  1852  exceeded  those  of  1841  and  1842  by  the  sum 
of  ^144,000,  and  I  suppose  nobody  will  doubt  that  there  was 
legislation  enough  ten  years  ago.  Let  the  people  have,  for 
purposes  of  education,  merely  what  might  be  saved  by  judi- 
ciously curtailing  the  annual  session  of  the  Legislature,  and 
the  number  of  its  members,  and  we  might  have  the  greater 
part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  all  I  have  enumerated,  without  a 
dollar  of  additional  taxation.     And  if  it  be  true,  as  I  think 


17 

there  can  be  no  doubt  it  is,  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
grudge  no  judicious  expenditure  for  general  education,  then 
all  that  is  necessary  is  to  show  them  that  the  plan  proposed 
would  be  for  the  good  of  all ;  that  it  is  not  a  scheme  to  assist 
one  class,  and  leave  another  to  its  fate,  but  that  it  compre- 
hends all  as  equally  as  the  nature  of  things  will  permit.  Let 
them  be  satisfied  that  such  a  scheme  offers  the  best  invest- 
ment of  their  superfluity,  and  let  them  realize  the  advantages 
which  would  accrue  to  the  entire  population,  and  the  renown 
which  such  an  all  embracing  scheme  would  confer  upon  our 
glorious  old  Commonwealth  over  all  the  world,  and  I  will 
venture  to  predict  there  will  be  no  complaint  of  the  amount 
of  taxation  necessary  to  carry  it  into  full  effect. 

The  people  of  Boston  are  a  pretty  fair  sample  of  the  New 
Englander.  They  are  gathered  from  every  part  of  Yankee- 
dom,  from  every  section  of  this  and  the  adjoining  States. 
Now  it  is  well  known  that  one  quarter  of  the  entire  tax  of 
the  city  has  been,  for  many  years,  spent  upon  the  schools, 
making  a  sum  of  from  $200,000  to  $300,000,  according  to 
the  growth  and  consequent  wants  of  the  population,  and  an 
average  of  more  than  $2  a  head  for  every  man,  woman  and 
child  within  its  limits.  Yet  who  hears  the  first  word  of 
complaint  about  the  amount  expended  ?  There  may  be  occa- 
sional fault  found  with  the  manner  in  which  it  is  used,  as 
injudicious  or  extravagant,  but  never  with  the  appropriation 
of  such  a  proportion  of  the  tax  bill.  The  member  of  the 
Legislature  who  first  discovers,  and  acts  upon  the  discovery, 
that  the  spirit  of  the  people  of  the  entire  Commonwealth  is 
the  same  as  that  of  the  city  of  Boston,  in  this  respect,  is 
destined  to  a  greater  renown  than  has  been  acquired  by  any 
one  of  them  for  several  years.  $300,000  per  annum,  about 
the  sum  raised  in  Boston  for  the  purpose  of  school  education, 
would  accomplish  all,  and  more  than  all,  that  has  been  men- 
tioned. Half  of  that  amount,  perhaps  a  quarter  of  it,  wisely 
used,  would  accomplish  it  in  a  few  years ;  and  half  of  that 
amount  would  be  an  addition,  not  of  $2  apiece,  but  of  less 
than  one  shilling  a  head  to  the  population  of  the  entire 
State.     Who  shall  say  that  this  is  impossible  ? 

Let  it  be  considered,  too,  that  if  these  foundations  were 
once  made  by  the  Commonwealth,  the  private  benevolence 
which  has  already  done  so  much  towards  these  very  objects 
would  still  continue  to  delight  in  giving  its  aid,  as  it  has  al- 
ready done  to  several  of  the  State  institutions,  and  thus  the 
burden  on  the  treasury  would  gradually  be  materially  relieved. 
But  why  talk  of  a  burden  on  the  treasury,  when  all  experience 


18 

shows  that  for  every  dollar  spent  in  this  way  by  the  State, 
five  are  speedily  returned  :  and  our  credit,  now  higher  than 
that  of  any  other  State  in  the  Union,  would,  by  such  a  course, 
be  made  to  rise  higher  yet.  It  is  the  school  and  the  College 
which  now  create  a  large  part  of  the  wealth  of  the  State, 
and  support  a  large  share  of  her  credit  abroad.  Let  the  sys- 
tem of  education  be  extended  and  perfected,  and  w^e  will 
have  such  a  Commonwealth  as  the  world  has  not  yet  seen. 

The  party  of  education  is  the  true  party  of  progress,  of  a 
sure  movement  onwards  and  upwards.  The  extension  of  the 
area  of  freedom,  which  means  only  overrunning  our  neigh- 
bors, seizing  their  territory,  and  making  them  free,  whether 
they  will  or  no,  may  be  productive  of  benefit,  if  God  over- 
rule to  such  an  end  the  human  passions  which  may  bring  it 
about ;  but  the  probability  is,  that  doing  such  enormous  evil, 
that  good  may  come  of  it,  would  be  productive  of  more  mis- 
chief than  even  our  former  sins  of  the  same  kind,  burdening 
our  institutions  with  the  dangerous  support  of  those  who  do 
not  and  cannot  understand  them,  and  inflaming  to  ten-fold 
heat  the  sectional  jealousies  which  are  always  hot  enough. 
And  what  are  the  advantages  that  can  flow  from  the  acquisi- 
tion even  of  Cuba,  compared  with  those  which  will  not  fail 
to  result  from  the  appropriate  education  of  the  whole  youth- 
ful population  ?  People  who  can  sell  with  profit  the  rough 
stones  in  their  hills,  and  the  spring  water  in  their  ponds, 
have  no  occasion  to  envy  the  growers  of  sugar  and  coffee,  or 
to  covet  the  possession  of  their  lands ;  while  the  position  of 
Massachusetts,  as  a  cultivated,  intellectual,  and  prosperous 
Commonwealth,  may  well  be,  aye,  it  is  a  subject  of  envy  to 
many  who  have  more  physical  wealth,  but  less  of  the  pro- 
ducts of  mind. 

Whatever  is  satisfactory,  or  honorable,  in  our  past  history, 
and  our  present  condition,  may  be  traced  very  directly  to  the 
intelligence  and  cultivation  of  the  mind  of  the  people  ;  and 
whatever  has  happened,  or  now  exists,  which  is  unsatisfactory, 
or  discreditable,  may  in  like  manner,  be  undoubtingly  as- 
scribed  to  the  want  of  knowledge  and  discretion  which 
might  and  probably  would  have  been  prevented  by  a  more 
extended  and  better  system  of  education.  If  Ihese  things 
are  so,  there  will  be  but  few  of  the  million  of  inhabitants  of 
this  Commonwealth,  who  will  grudge  the  cost  of  a  plan  by 
which  it  will  be  raised  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  the  glory 
suited  to  the  present  age — the  glory  of  intelligence,  knowl- 
edge, improvement  in  every  department  of  society  ;  and  there 
will  be  equally  few  who  will  not  look  with  distrust  upon 


19 

politicians  who  will  do  nothing  to  promote  the  kind  of  pro- 
gress which  is  of  more  importance  than  all  other  public 
measures,  and  which  alone  can  enable  the  little  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts  to  maintain  a  station  of  eminence 
among  the  States  of  the  earth.  Every  successive  legislature 
should  be  held  to  a  strict  accountability  by  their  constituents, 
till  they  shall  have  found  out  that  the  advantage  of  the  Com- 
monwealth is  something  different  from  the  obtaining  of 
offices  for  themselves  and  their  political  friends,  and  of  more 
importance,  too,  and  which  the  people  are  determined  to 
cause  them  to  attend  to,  in  preference  to  their  own  emolu- 
ment or  station.  Something  to  promote  this  greatest  of  all 
public  objects  should  be  done  each  year,  and  every  year,  till 
the  end  is  certainly  and  securely  obtained.  Then,  and  not 
till  then,  shall  we  have  done  our  duty  to  the  fathers,  who 
knew  so  well  "  what  constitutes  a  State,"  and  who  be- 
queathed to  us  such  great  opportunities  of  improvement,  and 
our  duty  to  posterity,  who  will  have  a  right  to  the  best  that 
we  can  do  for  them,  and  who  must  not  accuse  us  of  having 
neglected  or  misused  the  privileges  we  are  bound  to  transmit 
to  them,  not  merely  unimpaired,  but  increased. 


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